Bumper or fender for vehicles



Septll,Y 1923.

F. E. HUTCHINGS. BUMPER 0R FENDER FOR VEHICLES Filed March 5., 1922 3SheQtS-Sheet l AUQRNEVS Sept. 11, l1923. 1,467,322

F. E. HUTCHINGS BUMEER DE FENDER FOR VEHICLES Filed March 1922 :ssheets-sheer:l 2

/N l/E N TOR A TTORNE YS Sept. l, 1923.

F. E. HUTCHINGS BUMPER OR FENDER FOR VEHICLES Filed March 3,1922

y' I/l l l/VVEAi/TOB ATTORNEYS Patented Sept. l1, 1923.

pira srArs orrics.

FREDERICK E. HUTCHINGS, OF BROOKLYN, YORK, ASSIGNOR TO HUTCHINGSMANUFACTURING CO., INC., OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORFORATION OF NEW YORK.

BUMPER on 'non vEHrcLns.

Applicationled March 3, 1922; Serial No. 5410,'793.v

To [lll-711710772. t may con-cem.'

Be it known that I, 'FREDERICK E. HUTcIr- INGs, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and

resident of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings y each other and rearwardlyand forwardly,

in the control of separate yielding means.

As another feature I pivotally mount the arms of the bumper bars andconnect these arms by springs whereby the movement of said bars inrespect to each other isl yieldingly resisted.

As a further feature the arms are geared together whereby simultaneousand opposite movementy is insured, and the action of gravity andvibration is neutralized.

As a further feature, l utilize the rear-- wardmovement of the bumperbar to release l and drop a fender or wheel guardto prevent a person orobject with which the bumper has collided, from passing beneath thewheels.

A s a further feature I provide an im-` proved form of bracket whereby abumper or a fender may bey detachably secured to or mounted on the frontof the chassis frame of a motor vehicle withoutalteration in theconstruction or design of the latter.'

As a further feature l provide improved means for raising the curtain orother fender or wheel guard and automatically locking it in raisedposition without requiring the operator to leave his seat in the vehicleVarious other features of importance willbe Y pointed out hereinafter,or will be apparent from a consideration of the preferred embodimentillustrated in the accompanying' drawings. In these drawings:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view, a portion of the vehicle being shown indotted lines.

Fig. 2 is a front elevation. Fig. 3 is an end view.

.Figs.' l and 5 are transverse sections` on differenty scales and inplanes indicatedby li'e lines 1 4 and 5 5 respectively of iig. 1.

Fig. 6 is .a central longitudinal sectio through spring connectionsbetween the bumper bars, -f

Fig. 7 is an edge view of a cable reeling device.

'Figa 8 is an end view of the lparts shown in Fig. 7. i

Fig. 9 is an inverted horizontal section in the'plane of the axle shownin Fig. 7, and

Fig. 10 is an end view ofthe intermediate or idlenwheel.

y In my improved construction, I provide a pair of bumper bars 10 and 11mounted to extend transversely across the vehicle preferably in front ofthe front wheels, and preferably of a length substantially equal tothetread of the vehicle. These bumper bars are separately mounted in spacedsuperposed positions, the upper bar 10 being carried by a pa'ir'of arms12, andthe lower bumper bar 11 being carried by a pair of arms 13. I donot wishfto be limited to any specific form of bar, although 'lpreferably employ spring steel stock substantially rigid vertically butyieldable horizontally; As shown, eachv bar is formed of a substantiallyclosed completel loop formed of a `strip of steel bent to form, afrontfimpact barportion 14 rearwardly curved end loop portion 1,5, and arear bar portion lfformed by the overlapping ends of-thestrip of'steeland of double thickness between the two supporting arms.v Preferablyonly the rear bar portion is' directly connected to the arms so that thefront bar portion'may yield rearwardly until it engages with therear'orfreinforcing bar'portion 16. Thus the bar itself may yield eitherrearwardlyor forwardly at either end or may yield rearwardly at thecenter portion independently of any movement of the supporting arms'.lrhe upper arms 12 and the lower arms 13 are mounted on pivots 17 and 18in a pair of brackets 19.' Between the pivots the two bars haveintermeshing gear segment 'portions 12a vand 13"', lso that la swingingmovement of one arm causes a corresponding and'opposite swinging move- Yment of theother arm. The upper arms 12 Vare in substantially the samevertical plane as' the lower arms 13, and each upper arm is connected toits corresponding lower one by resilient or yielding means normallytending to bring the arms toward each other. ln other words, to swingthe upper bumper bar l0 downwardly, and the lower bumper bar llupwardly. This movement is limited by a pair ot coacting` stops 2Oadjacent to the gear segment sections l2 and 13", as shown particularlyin Fig. 5. The yielding connection between the two arms ot' eachsuperposed pair includes a heavy coil spring 2l and a. lighter coilspring` 2Q (Fig. 6). These springs have their upper ends connected to asuitable bracket 23 on the upper arm, and their lower ends to a bracket24 on the lower arm.. The lower bracket is such that it has lost motionconnections to the outer or heavier spring. The inner or lighter springis always under tension, and holds the two bumper hars in predeterminedposition with thev stops 20 in engagement with each other. The heavyspring has its lower end or terminal loop 25 movable vertically in aslot in the bracket 2l, so that this spring does not come into playuntil after the arms have been moved away from each other through a.distance corresponding to the amount ot' this lost motion. Thus thebumper bars may yield, due to their own resiliency, and may yield by theextension of the spring 22 tor a limited distance, and. thereafter theheavy springi 2l comes into play and a fr itly increased resistance isottered to turther separating` and rearward movement ot the bumper bars.By this triple yielding' e'l'l'ect the blow imparted to a person orobject in case ot collision with the bumper bars is progressivelycushioned and the liability ot injury to either the bumper, the vehicle,or the object is materially reduced.

T o further reduce liability et' injury to the person or a movableobject with which the vehicle may collide, I provide ak wheel guard ortender adapted to be automatically dropped to the ground in case ot apredetermined rear Yard movement ot the bumper bars. This wheel guard ortender is in the form ot a curtain 2T normally wound on a roller 28 butadapted to be unwound so that its lower edge may extend to orapproximately to the ground., as shown in dotted lines in Fig'. 3. Thecurtain and its roller arc supported in a housing 29 which is rigid withand carried by the brackets i9 which support the bumper arms. The bodyportion of the casing' may be termed ot sheet metal in substantiallyinverted channel or U shape, and provided with end walls 30 which carrythe curtain roller supporting shatt- 31. The shaft is held againstrotation by a suitable key or other locking means, and the roller 2S isrotatably mounted on the shaft. Between the shaft't and the roller thereis provided a helical spring 32 having one end secured to the shaft andthe other end to the roller, so as to exercise a torce at all timestending to rotate the roller i counter-clockwise trom the position shownin Fig. Ll, and to keep the curtain wound up on the roller. Thisconstruct-ion of shatt roller and spring may be similar to that commonlyemployed in ordinary curtain or shade rollers. The tree end ot thecurtain is secured to a transverse bar 34- which is mounted in a pairot' pivoted arms 35 normally extending in a substantially horizontalposition as shown in Fig'. 3, and projectingy rearwardly trom thecurtain housingto rigid pivotal supports. These pivotal supports areshown in the form ot' brackets each incliulinp,` bar 3G rigidly securedto a lug 37 on its corresponding' bracket 19. and a bar 38 having itsupper end secured to the chassis and eX- tending downwardly to atransverse rod 39 which engages the bars RG and 3S and holds the bracketat one side ot the vehicle rigid with that on the other. The bar 39serves as the pivotal support lor the arms so that they may swing` tromthe raised position shown in solid lines in Fig. 3 to the loweredposition shown in dotted lines.

For rapidly lowering` the curtain and unwinding it against the tensionet the curtain spring 32, the rod 39 is provided with a coil spring 40.This is preferably so mount/.al that it acts equally on the two arms Asshown, it 'has two portions revcrsely coiled so that the opposite endsot the spring engage with lun's or projections il on the two arms 35.and the center portion enu'aglts with al collar 42 at the center ot theshatt By rotating' this collar in the proper direction, the two halvesot the spring; may be put under equal tension so as to exert a tendencyto swing` the arms downwardly and the collar 4t2 may then be locked inposition by a suitable set screw or other locking means. This tensionmay be adjusted or varied at will by releasing the collar andrelookingitatter the desired rotation in the proper direction toincrease or decrease the tension. Obviously the tension -on the spring40 must be materially greater than that on the spring 3Q in order topermit one spring to act against the other and rapidly unwind thecurtain when the latter is released.

The curtain is provided with means tor normally holding it in wound upor rolled posit-ion, and this retaining means is so designed as to beoperated by the bumper bars or arms upon a predetermined movement of thelatter. As shown the casing 29 has a bracket 44: on which is pivotallymounted a bell crank lever 4J), one end ot said lever havinga catch orshoulder portion 4-6 tor engaging beneath a lug; or projection 4T on thecurtain lowering or unwinding' means. The rod 34 is non-rotatablymounted in the tecting sheath, casing' or hollow conduit 65 which may itdesired be an ordinary liexible metal conduit.

For winding` up the cable I provide a drinn TO ot suoli diameter that acomparatively tew turns otl cable on the periphery thereof will equalthe maximum rann'eot movement ot the lower edge ot the curtain. It isessential that such drinn be tree to rotate and permit the unwindingot-the cable therefrom during' the dropping of the curtain. Forrotating` the drinn to wind up the cable and at the same time leave thedrum in such condition tl it may treely rotate in the oppositedirection. l provide a second drum 7l mountedcoaxial therewith, andhaving a second cable 72 wound thereon with one end ot he cable securedto the drum and the other endv eritcndinn` through vthe dashboard oi'instrument board ot the' car, or ihroue'h' the tloor to an, operating'handle 7e. Between the two drums 70 and 7l there is an intermediatewheel 75 which has a single tooth or p roliecton i'i engaging; with asingle tooth or pro;` ion 77 on the d 70. lt also has a single tooth oi'proiect n 7S engaging` with a sinfrle tooth or projection 79 on thedrinn 7l. The `three members 70, 7l and 75 are independently rotatableon a shatt S0. A coil spring; Si enejafres the supportingbracket QQ anda hub ot the drinn 70. so as to tend to rotate the drinn in such adirection as to keep` the cable Si wound thereon. A similar spring' 93engages the bracket. and a hub oiE the drinn 7i, so as to normally keepthe cable 72 wound thereon. The operation ot these parts is as tollows:

Then the curtain is released and starts to drop, the pull on the cableGl rotates the drinn against the action ot the spring` 7 i throughnearly one complete revolution without any rotation ot the wheel or thedrinn 7l. Atter nearly 3G00, the tooth 77 engages with the tooth 7G andduring' the next nearly 360 rotation ot the drum 70 the wheel 75 willturn with it, but the drum 7l will remain at rest. Thus the drum 70 maymake nearly two complete revolutions while the drinn 7l remains at rest.and during' these two Vnearly complete revolutions enough ot the. cablewill be unwound troni the drum 70 to permit maximum drop ot the curtain.lilith the curtain iii the lowered position the driver may pull on thehandle and the resulting` rotation ot the drum 7l will cansesimultaneous rotation ot both the wheel T5 and the drinn 70. due to thedirect and immediate engagement ot the lugs 76. 77, 78.

and 79. The drum 70 will thusibe rotated inl the opposite directionthrough nearly two revolutions. and the curtain will be raised andautomatically relocled. As soon as the curtain engages the catch ot thebell crank lever 45, the operator may release the handle 74. The springS3 will turn the drum 7l tree so that the cable 61 may freely unwindupon the dropping ot the curtain.

ln the construction above described, the

pull on the cable G1 acts merely to litt the lower edge ot the curtainand permit the spring 32 to rewind the curtain. lt will ot course beobvious that in some constructions the spring 32 may be entirely omittedand y the cable (Si secured to and wound directly on the curtain roller28 or on a drinn rigid therewith In that event a pull on the cable wouldcause a direct and positive rotation ot the curtain rolleiij wliichwould rewind the curtain thereon without necessitating;-

any spring` connections between the roller and its support.

ln my improved construction the brackets i9 are so designed that theymay be readily bolted to the 'fomvardly proj ccting side members ot' thechassis ot most makes; or designs oi automobiles. The brackets 6l may bebolted, clamped or otherwise secured to these chassis members and thelinks or bars 3S may be 'cut to the proper lengthand bent to the desiredterm it' such bending is necessary to hold the pivot rod 89 rigid inrespect to the trame. The brackets 19y are adjustable lengthwise ot thecurtain housing'. In other words, they may be riveted or bolted to thehousing;- at the proper 'distance apart7 depending upon the distancebetween the chassis traine members ot the particular vehicle to whichthe device is tobe attached. Likewise, the arms are adjustablelengthwise ot the bumper bars tor the same reason. The device may thusbe made up in a single or a comparatively tew standard sizes 'anddesigns and readily adapted to a wide variety ot sizes and makes otmotor vehicles. yNo alteration in the shape or construction ot thevehicle itself is required, and the entire device may -be readilyattached in a comparatively short time7 and without requiring` otherskill than that ordinarily employed in the attaching ot automobileaccessories, such as bumpers, tire carriers, etc.

Having thus described my invention, what l claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is l. A device of the class described,including` two. pairs ot superposed pivoted arms adapted to be supportedby opposite side portions of a vehicle trame, a spring connecting thetwo arms ot each pair and tending to swing them toward each other, stopslimiting said swinging movement, and av iin front ends of the arms 35and on this is nonrotatably mounted a collar 48 carrying the lug 47. Theparts are shown in normal or raised position in Fig. 4. There may be a.plurality ot these catches engaging with corresponding projections atdifferent points along the length ot the lower edge of the curtain, butin order to insure the release ot' all parts of the curtain at rthe sameinstant and prevent one end troni dropping `ahead oit' the other, lpreferably employ only a single retaining catch and mount this midwaybetween the ends ot the curtain housing.

For operating the bell crank lever upon a predetermined movement ot thebumper bars, and tor preventing any accidental release of the catch, lprovide a rock shaft 49 rotatably mounted in the upper part of thecurtain housingl above the curtain. and having means for effecting therotation of the shaft upon a predetermined downward swinging movement oteither of the bumper arms As shown.y the rock sha tt 4S) has a. pair ofupwardly extending' lingers 50 disposed adjacent to cam projections 51on the bumper arms 13. Thus, any downward movement et either arm 13 willcause the roelr shaft 49 to turn in a clockwise position `from thatshown in Figs. 4 and 5. .intermediate ot its ends the rock shatt hasmeans operatively engaging with the bell crank lever. This is shown as acollar having a depending finger portion 5? and a` cam 54 disposed abovethe bell crank lever tor torcing the end ot the latter downwardly upon apredetermined-rotation of the rock shaft. A spring connects the lowerend ot the tinge' and a portion of the bell crank lever below the pivotof the lever. so that it serves to hold the hook 46 beneath the shoulder47, the ringer 50 against the cam 51, and the bell crank 45 against thecam 54.

From the foregoing it will be seen that in case the vehicle collideswith a person or object the shock ot the collision will be absorbed inpart by the resiliency ot the bumper bars themselves, and to a furtherextent by the rearward movement ot the bars against thc tension ot thesprings Q1 and The parts are preferably so designed that when the bumperbars have been moved to suffh an extent as will talre up the lostinotion at the end ol: the springs 2l and bring said springs intooperation. the rock shaft 4S) will have been oscillated through asuficient angle 'to release the curtain and drop it to the ground. Thiscurtain will act to piek up any person who may have been knocked down bythe bumper bars. and will prevent him 'trom passing beneath the wheelsot the vehicle. To better insure the proper pick-up action ot thecurtain and to prevent injury to or wrecking ot the apparatus in casethe lower edge ot the curtain should strike an immovable obstruction inthe road, I provide a shoe which may be constructed substantially asillustrated in my prior Patent No. 1,133,287, issued March 80th, 1915.This is here shown as a sheet metal plate 57, the front and rear edgesol which may be turned over to stitlen or reinforce the same, and torender the edges comparatively blunt, and the under surface intermediateot the edges is connected to the rod 34 by plurality ot links 5S. lllhenthe curtain is dropped the parts assume the position shown in dottedlines in Fig. 3 and the plate 57 is so inclined that it tends to causeany object or article to ride up over the plate lreserve curtain on theroller so that in case a person or object is picked up by the tender,the curtain can curve or belly rearwardly to receive and support suchperson or object.

The springs Q1 and 22 tend to return the bumpers to their normalposition as soon as the pressure against the bumper bars is removed. butit is necessary to overcome the action ot the spring 40 in order tore-roll the. tender. ln seine constructions it maybe necessary for thedriver to get out and litt up the bar 34 until it re-engages with theyretaining catch while the curtain antomatically rewinds by the actionot the spring 32 during the raising of this bar. PreferA ably means areprovided whereby the curtain may be raised by the driver without leavinghis seat. As shown, the collar 4S which is mounted midway between theends ot the rod 34 has an eyelet 60 (Fig. 4) to which is connected acable 61. This extends over a pulley 63 mounted on the rear wall ot thecurtain housing substantially directly above the collar 48 and beneaththe bell rrank lever 45. This pulley is mounted to rotate about a.substantially horizontal axis. Adjacent. to one ot the side tramemembers ot the chassis the curtain housing is provided with a secondpulley 64 which is mounted to rotate about a substantially horizontalaxis. Thus the cable may extend lengthwise oi? the vehicle along oneside thereof to the pulley 64, then lengthwise of the housing to thepulley 63. and then downwardly to the bar 34. By exerting the properpull on the cable the bar 34 may be raised and the curtain willautomatically rewind. Preferably the portion of the cable trom thecurtain housing` to the operating handle for the curtain is enclosed ina pro@ pair of spaced bumper bars one carried by the two upper arms ofsaid pairs and the other carried bythe two lower arms ot said pairs.

2. A device of the class described, including a pair of upwardly andforwardly inclined arms pivotally supported upon the opposite sideportions of a vehicle frame, a pair et downwardly and forwardly inclinedarms pivotally supported adjacent to the pivotal supports of the firstmentioned arms, a pair of bumper bars one carried by the lirst mentionedarms and the other carried by the second mentioned arms, means forholding said bumper bars in spaced relationship, and yielding meansnormally tending to prevent swinging' movement oi' said arms to separatesaid bumper bars.

3. A device ot' the class described, including a pair of bracketsadapted to be detachably secured to a vehicle frame, a pair of armspivoted to each of said brackets, a spring connecting` the two Varms ofeach bracket and tending to swing them toward each other, stops limitingsaid swinging movement, and a pair of spaced bumper bars, one carried byone arm of each of said pairs and the other carried by the other arm ofeach of said pairs.

4. A device of the class described, including a pair of brackets adaptedto be detachably secured to a vehicle trame, two pairs of pivoted arms,one pair mounted on one bracket and the other pair mounted on the other,a pair oi yielding` bumper bars one carried by an arm of each bracket,said bumper bars being formed of yielding material, and separateyielding means normally tending to prevent relative movement of saidarms 5. A device olE the class described. including a pair ot' bracketsadapted to be detachably secured to a vehicle frame, two pairs etpivoted arms, one pair mounted on one bracket and the other pair mountedon the other, a pair of yielding bumper bars one carried by an arm ofeach bracket, separate yielding means normally tending to preventrelative movement oit said arms, and auxiliary yielding meanseffectively tending to prevent said movement al'ter a predeterminedmovement against the action of the first mentioned yielding means.

6. A device of the class described, including a pair of spaced bumperbars, a pair of pivoted arms supporting one bar. a separate pair of armssupporting the other bar, a pair of springs yieldingly resistingrelativemovement ot said bars, and a second pair of springs also yieldinglyresisting relative movement of said bars but coming into operation onlyafter a predetermined action of the first mentioned springs.

7. A device of the class described, including a pair of relativelymovable bumper bars, a wheel guard independent thereof,

and nieanslior releasing the latter to permit4 adapted to form a wheelguard and normally held in rolled position, means for unrolling` saidcurtain and dropping` one edge thereof to the ground upon apredetermined relative movement ot said bars,y

and means yieldingly resisting but permitting further relative movementet said bars.

l0. A device or' the class described, including a pair of bracketsadapted to be secured to a vehicle trame, a curtain roller supportedthereby, a pair oit pivoted arms secured to the tree edge of saidcurtain, a spring normally tending to swing said arms downwardly tounroll and lower the curtain, means normally preventing said unrollingand lowering movement, and a bumper bar yieldingly mounted on saidbrackets and adapted to release said retaining means upon apredetermined rearward movement of said bumper bar.

l1. A device of the class described, including a pair oit bracketsadapted to be detachably secured toa vehicle trame, a curtain housingcarried thereby, a curtain normally rolled within said housing, twopairs oil arms, one pair being pivotally mounted upon each ofsaidbra'ckets, a pair ol bumper' bars each carried by one arm of eachpair ot arms, yielding means normally resisting relative movement ot'Said arms, and means for unrolling the curtain upon a .predeterminedrelative movement ot' said arms.

12. A device of the class described, including a curtain roller adaptedto be supported on a vehicle in lront of the wheels thereof, a curtainsecured to said roller. means 'for normally holding the curtain inrolled position, means including a bar engaging with the lower edge ofsaid curtain for lowering or unrolling it, a cable con` nected to saidlast mentioned means and a drum upon which said cable may be wound forraising said barduring rewind'ing of the curtain.

13. A device of the class described, including a curtain roller adaptedt0 be secured to a vehicle iframeA in front of the wheels thereof, abarsecured to the lower edge of the curtain, a spring normally tend,-

Cif

ing to lower said bar and unioll the Curtain, u cable adapted whenpulled to effect the i'e- Winding of Jche curtain, and a drum upon whichcable may be Wound.

14. A device of Jche class described, including a curtain normallysupported in rolled position in front of Jdie Wheels of a Vehicle, meansfor unrolling Said curtain in case of collisionI and means foi'rerolling said curtain, including a drum, a cable no1- niaily Wound onand Connected to said Cui'- tain, a Second drinn coaxial with the irstmentioned drum, a separate cable Wound on said second drum, lost motionConnections between said drums, and resilient means tending to rotatesaid drums in opposite dii'eetions to hold both cables in Wound postion.

Signed at New York in he county of New York and State of New York, this2nd day of March, A. D. 1922.

FREDERICK E. HUTCHINGS.

